Auditions?? Eek!

The word “audition” can give musicians the hives. To many it means something like “get nervous, perform badly, embarrass yourself, and get dissed":

To counteract that perception, we might ask ourselves what “audition” actually means. The answer? Simply a “hearing.” Auditions allow musical pros to hear you and determine if you’re right for a youth symphony like GTCYS, or a summer or college program, or a job. With May auditions coming up for GTCYS’ 2010 – 11 season, we recently hosted a masterclass for students to learn more about preparing for and getting through an audition.

L-R Masterclass Students Gabriela Ruiz-Colon & Lydia Sadoff

and Teachers Nina Olsen & Tanya Remenikova

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I asked Anders, a violist who played in the class a year ago and observed it from the audience this year, about experiencing the class from two different perspectives. Anders noted that playing in the class is a great way of preparing for an audition, since you’re afforded a dry run before the real event: “It's almost as if the performers in the masterclass get two chances to nail their solos and scales.” Anders also noted a special awareness he got from performing: “I think that performing last year made me empathetic toward the performers this year. I'm pretty sure all of the performers were nervous, and knowing that changed how I looked at their performances.” Anders also noted one particular message he picked up from last year’s class—the importance of good reading skills. Reading is essential for musicians, and even if we get by with mediocre reading skills, we get to a much higher level when we read well.

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Just as Anders benefitted from playing for mock judges before his real audition last May, I would recommend that anyone preparing for any kind of audition perform it several times in advance for different listeners. Even if the people hearing you aren’t professional judges, doing multiple performances helps you feel more settled when you’re in front of the real judges. And if you actually do a mock audition in front of professional musicians, well, in Anders’ words, that’s a “precious” experience.

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Just as having been in the hot seat made Anders more sympathetic to others’ nerves, so it is with judges who hear you play. Most are NOT Simon Cowell. While it’s their job to assess your playing honestly, they know about your nerves and view you, as someone trying out for a youth symphony, as a “work in progress.” So, if the judges are nice guys, does that mean you needn’t work hard for your audition? Not so. While most judges are personally kind to students who have a weak audition, they won’t place them in a program for which they don’t think the student is prepared. Luckily for students auditioning for GTCYS, our program covers the entire gamut, from elementary-level to highly advanced orchestras. Wherever they are in their development, there’s likely a place for them in the program.

Guests mix it up at Symphony

Over the last couple of weeks, several guest conductors have worked with the GTCYS Symphony on Carl Maria von Weber’s Overture to the opera Der Freischütz. On March 15 Roberto Abbado rehearsed the composition, followed by Patrick Strub a week later.

Italian conductor Abbado, nephew of the former Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Claudio Abbado, came in bursting with energy and smiles. He praised the kids numerous times for sounding so good based on only one previous rehearsal. Abbado focused on musical shaping—an extra pause here, a heightened dynamic there, some added rubato (treating the pulse in a pliable manner). After rehearsing various spots, the orchestra ran the piece, experiencing both the satisfaction of improvement and the thrill of playing the entire overture under a pro.

Strub (pictured at left), who hails from Germany, made clear his high expectations from the moment he stepped on the podium, and through highly detailed work achieved a lot of technical and sonic improvements. Strub rehearsed passages painstakingly, constantly exhorting students to be aware of their sound quality and intonation and how to develop them for the better. The orchestra only got through part of the overture, but the advancement on the portion rehearsed was striking.

What did the students think? Violist Emma said, “It's always nice to hear feedback and advice from a different conductor – especially a world-renowned on, like Maestro Abbado (pictured at right). Meeting conductors like him pushes me to concentrate on everything in the written music, when I otherwise might not. Once he left, I realized I was still remembering the sound we had with him, and also the things he told us. As a result, I heard a great improvement in our sound and overall playing after he left.” Violinist Adam had some of the same sentiments about guests. “It’s interesting and fun to have someone new conduct. It affects us when we realize we’re being rehearsed by someone who regularly works with pros – we felt compelled to focus better. They knew what they were looking for. Maestro Strub was very technically focused, especially with the strings. Both experiences were very good, and I’d like to work with other guest conductors.”